New Grant Funding to Help Farmers Markets Accept Snap Benefits

On Monday, July 15th, $4 million in funding for a Farmers Market SNAP Support Grant became available through the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). The program aims to increase the participation of farmers markets in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and access to farmers markets by SNAP recipients.

According to Farmers Market Coalition, “SNAP provides over 45 million low-income Americans with monthly benefits that can be used to purchase most foods and beverages. Each year program participants spend roughly $70 billion in SNAP benefits, including more than $22.4 million at farmers markets in 2017. While SNAP helps low-income Americans purchase food, the program also supports farmers and farmers markets in all 50 states.”

In Florida, incentive programs funded by the USDA like Fresh Access Bucks(FAB), an initiative of Feeding Florida, encourage SNAP recipients to redeem their benefits at farmers markets, produce stands, CSAs and mobile markets to purchase healthy produce directly from Florida farmers. FAB matches or discounts up to $40 of what a SNAP cardholder spends with Fresh Access Bucks that can be used to purchase fruits & vegetables.

Expanding the abilities of SNAP recipients to access the healthy foods farmer’s markets requires more innovation, making this grant a great opportunity to create change.

For full grant information click here.

Key Dates: 

—> July 15, 2019 — Application opening date. 

—> September 13, 2019  — Application closing date. Full applications --must be submitted via grants.gov.

Estimated Total Program Funding: 

$4,000,000

Number of Awards: 

1

Eligible Grant Applicants: 

Applicant must be a nonprofit with a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Grant Officer Contact Information:

Trinity Richardson, Grant Officer
U.S. Department of Agriculture, FNS
E-mail: trinity.richardson@usda.gov
Phone: 703-305-2184